I had the privilege of spending a few weeks in South Korea, specifically in the city of Daegu. Although I worked the majority of the time, I had some free moments to explore the city. Through my own trials and tribulations, I can tell you how to do things right, especially in just one day.

It is 8:30 PM, our last night in Japan. The air was cool and after a nice stroll we were spending it enjoying eating our hearts out...well, actually, a chicken heart on a stick at this amazing yakitori restaurant down the street from our hotel in the Asakusa neighbourhood. All of the sudden, it felt super smoky in the restaurant. I went outside to get some fresh air. But when I walked back in, I didn’t feel any better, and that’s when my partner noticed the hives all over my face and neck...dun dun dun Anaphylaxis!

We had a lot of fun in Seoul this past spring and I was able to get my fill of Korean BBQ, KoMex (nm, no such thing as too much KoMex), Korean cosmetics, and raccoons (yes, raccoons). The highlight was visiting the infamous (?) Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates North Korea from South Korea. Here are my favorite places, and more importantly, food items, and what’s worth visiting if you only have one day.

We had the pleasure of being able to hop over to Japan, after our visit to South Korea. I fell in love with Kyoto, and honestly expected to be overwhelmed by Tokyo. Well, it didn’t overwhelm me, but the quaint neighborhoods stole my heart with their intricate personalities, the new mixed with the old, and the spiritual and historical elements. Although it would probably take living there extensively to see and truly experience the city’s highlight and underrated spots, I came up with this easy one-day to-do list. I hope you enjoy the city as much as we did (minus ending up in the ER for anaphylaxis - long story), and I look forward to returning.

I recently ventured to South Korea with the American Red Cross' Service to the Armed Forces (SAF) program to facilitate workshops on Communication for children and adults on military bases. During my free time, I got to venture around South Korea, and even visited the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the border between North and South Korea. This was a little nerve-wracking, considering I was present for two of North Korea's failed missile tests. Once our program was over in South Korea (City of Daegu), I hopped on a train to the southern city of South Korea, Busan and took a 3-hour ferry across the Sea of Japan to the southern city of Fukuoka. This was so much fun, and much less expensive than a flight. From there we took the train to Kyoto and later Tokyo, to explore and enjoy the culture, food and amazing surrounding Japan has to offer. It was a blast, and I look forward to returning back and exploring more of both countries in the future.

Busan (pronounced Pousahn), is South Korea’s second largest city, and is at the southern end of the country, opposite of Seoul. It is boasted for having some of the best seafood in the country, and the largest geothermal spa in Asia. It is also just three hours by ferry from Fukuoka, Japan. In spending a couple of days there, I got down some of the must-do’s in this city.

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